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A day in the teaching life of...Francis Jim Tuscano
It’s been almost two years since I was appointed chairperson of the religious and values education department and head edtech coach of Xavier School in San Juan City, Philippines. Before that, I taught Grade 6 students values and religious education. Values education is required in the national Philippine basic education curriculum and religious education is required in Catholic schools that teach Christian moral values and teachings.
The integrated discipline aims to help students make sense of their identity in relation to their self, family, community, faith and the bigger global society. To do this, I employed various teaching and learning approaches to promote critical thinking such as visible thinking routines and using technology to allow multimodal learning. As a school, we focus on fostering student-driven learning. Therefore most of our units or lessons always end with a challenge to transfer their learnings as they solve real-life problems.
One thing that led to my recognition as a teacher locally and internationally is my passion for technology integration. As a teacher in a 1:1 iPad school, I have always integrated tech tools to empower and allow my students to drive and lead their own learning paths. Of course, this expertise did not come or develop overnight, but listening to my students and hearing about their passions helped me along the way.
Most of my interactions with students for the past couple of years were during team teaching experiences in which I collaborated with teachers from different academic subjects and taught their students on using technology tools, guiding them through the use of design-thinking and project-based learning.
However, a few weeks ago, I happily returned to the classroom to teach Grade 5 students.
Three years ago, we were introduced to growth mindset. The faculty had a series of workshops, which focused on how we, as teachers, can foster a growth mindset in our students. We had visual reminders, such as posters and audio-visual presentations, in and outside the classrooms, that promoted the development of a growth mindset.
Because of my experiences with students and with their parents I was easily convinced that adopting a growth mindset was necessary. I’ve witnessed my students be burdened by the need to prove themselves to their parents and families by getting the highest grades. In one meeting, I had to remind one father to not to call his son a “failure”. Sure, he failed the test, but as a person he was not a failure. Committing mistakes in tests is perceived as a sign of unintelligence. This pressure towards getting the perfect score has caused stress and frustration to students that have then led to depression and a significant decrease in self-confidence.
The unnecessary and unhelpful pressure has led students to avoid or perform poorly in situations that require risk-taking or thinking outside the box. Most of the time, these students simply choose to stay with the familiar, where they know everything and have control of what’s going to happen. Yet we know that the world is full of complex problems and those who thrive in these situations are those who embrace challenges, take risks, persist despite setbacks, and listen to feedback to be better. Working in unfamiliar conditions with unfamiliar tools and ideas is definitely the adventure of discovery for true innovators.
As teachers, we hope to help our students become comfortable and confident with risk-taking through designing learning experiences (project-based, problem-based, or challenge-based learning) that encourage making courageous decisions, learning from mistakes and collaborating with others.
Our focus is not about risk-taking for the sake of perfecting the art of not making mistakes, but on how we actually develop our students to meaningfully navigate consequences and make sense of the mistakes that come with risk-taking. In my experience in the classroom, those students who love to take risks and engage with unfamiliar challenges tend to be more engaged and fulfilled with their work.
It takes a village to raise a child. I also believe that a village, or a school community for this matter, that practises the principles of having a growth mindset together, will definitely raise students who embrace challenges, take risks and thrive in unfamiliar and complex life situations.
In the end, the communal practice can lead to creating and sustaining a school culture that celebrates failures and courageous risk-taking as part of having a meaningful and successful life.
Francis Jim Tuscano is the religious and values education department and head edtech coach at Xavier School, San Juan City, Philippines.
Do you want to tell the world’s teachers about your working day, the unique circumstances in which you teach or the brilliance of your class? If so, email kate.parker@tesglobal.com. We will give your school £100 if your story is published.
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